shelving books is apparently the cure to all my anxiety issues.

last night i volunteered with my friend at a disney magnet school's library. i had done this once before but i have had trouble squeezing it into my schedule since. i remember leaving the project feeling very clear-headed and happy - just after an hour or so of reshelving books. same thing last night. i felt productive, relaxed and recharged. i've always enjoyed cleaning up other people's messes and solving their problems instead of my own. it helps me focus on someone and something else rather than on my to do list i have to tackle. i worked on the Easy Children's Book section which simply involved reshelving piles and piles of books in alphabetical order and organizing as i went along. they were a mess which only made me enjoy it even more! for a straight hour i barely spoke to anyone and just focused on these books. i didn't think about my paper that was waiting for me to work on when i got home. i didn't think about my big work day that i have today. nada. i just thought about the alphabet and how cute some of the book covers were. so basically it was a mutually beneficial experience - helping this school and helping me not go insane. good stuff!

afterwards i walked home which was a nice extra workout, cooked a healthy dinner, watched millionaire matchmaker and worked on my paper. i feel way more relaxed today than i have in a long time. i'm totally ready to tackle my long day at work. hope everyone else has a nice wednesday!

weekend recap: music, loved ones & the oscars!

i had a great weekend that was very different from most - low key! after work on friday, i hit the gym for cardio kickboxing and despite the very unenthusiastic instructor it was a good work out and i plan to go again this friday. then the bf and i went to an african music ensemble at depaul. the university hosts tons of free music events and this one caught my eye. this one was really fun and i love freebie events! afterwards we drove down to the burbs for the night and i crashed early. it was divine. i slept for 10 hours. it was much needed!

on saturday morning, my mom and i went to our hair salon for haircuts together and then we went out to lunch at portillos. YUM. it's been awhile since i've eaten there and it really hit the spot. later on the bf picked me up and we drove down to u of i with his parents to see his lil bro's senior recital. he is also a percussionist and truly amazing. i was so happy to be able to see him perform! afterwards we went to a delicious dinner with his girlfriend and their aunt & cousin. we had a mini feast of fries, wings and pizza. YUM! then we hit the road and i got to bed early again!

sunday morning i ran some errands, cleaned up and then we met two of my favorite couples for lunch at wildes. meg & ry brought their little munchkin bella. she is the truly the only little lovebug making me even consider having kids of my own. she's perfect! we had a great lunch and then went back to stef & jeff's to hang out a bit. it's so fun to see bella walk and she's So animated now with funny expressions and some talking. i love it! after meg, ry & bella hit the road i stuck around to work on some wedding stuff with stef. she taught me how to knit so i could attempt to help her awesome shower favors - a little dish towel. i couldnt get it at first but she's a really good teacher so i finally pulled it together. we watched a bit of the oscar preshow and then i was off to meet another bff to watch the show at zellas. the place was totally dead so we got a prime seat on a sofa next to the fire. we got to catch up and then we had a lot of opinions about the fashion. some of my faves were: rachel mcadams, maggie gyllenhal, sandra bullock and yes, even sarah jessica parker. my least favorites were the chick from up in the air or inglorious bastards. today i added a bunch of the oscar noms to my netflix list because i only saw a few this year.

i went to bed last night feeling incredibly lucky that i got to spend my weekend with so many people that i love. i got to do some cool stuff with the bf, spend some time with my rents and the bf's family and some quality time with friends on sunday. i couldn't ask for a better mix of people to spend my weekend with. i hope everyone else had a good one too!

promotion & other happy thoughts.

a few weeks ago my boss told me i was being promoted! i knew i was up for a title change but i thought it was only if we were able to get a new position under me to manage so the news came as quite a surprise! so now i am an associate director promoted from assistant director after working here for about 2.5 years. we are waiting to find out if the position below me will get approved. fingers crossed because it would make my life so much easier and i'm eager to get management experience. i'm really excited for this new role and all of the opportunities it might bring and i'm anxious to see what's next!

in other news - i booked some reservations for chef's week and i'm SO excited. restaurant week was so so but i'm really excited about my choices for chef's week. i lucked out with a reservation at blackbird, the publican and a lunch reservation at perennial. i love food. more on me and my friend's love for food - check out iheartcomida.blogspot.com.

despite my major exhaustion due to lack of sleep lately i'm still having a good week! yesterday was especially good. i hit the gym and took another class with the satan lady. she kicked my ass yet again and i'm way sore today. i know it's a good thing though. this class was more yoga influenced and even had some dance elements. kicked my ass. after class i met a few friends and the bf for a free movie night at lincoln hall featuring wet hot american summer - the most hilarious movie i swear. it was good laughter therapy and great to do something fun with friends in the middle of the week.

and i have exciting things in store for the weekend. tomorrow me and the bf are going to a depaul african ensemble performance. i'm really excited - especially just to spend some time with my babe. saturday we're driving down to u of i with his fam to see his lil bro's senior recital. more cool music! i can't wait! on sunday i get to spend time with some of my fav high school gals and their men for lunch and later on i'm going to watch the oscars with my bestest. unfortunately at some point i have to squeeze in some homework and paper writing since the quarter is quickly coming to a close...at least the rest will all be fun! hope everyone is having a good week too!

vaca day and FOOD!

on friday i took a vaca day purely for mental health. i think i need those at least once a school quarter in order to avoid going completely crazy. i slept late and then just texted and emailed from bed for a nice long time. i finally got up and went to one of my favorite places...WHOLE FOODS! i love how it's laid out, the free cheese samples everywhere and how helpful everyone is. i bought lots of beautiful food for the week and ingredients to make beef stew in the crock pot. i also got their delic mac & cheese from their hot bar for lunch. TO DIE! when i got home i started chopping all the onions, potatoes, garlic and carrots. who knew that would be so insanely time consuming! then i had to brown up the beef add in the beef stock and get it cooking. i added in some thyme and hot sauce and let it sit for 5 hours. then later on i added in more stock and green beans and let it sit for about 15 minutes. then it was ready to enjoy! it turned out great and i'm really proud of myself! while i waited for it to cook all day i got some school work done and watched my netflix movie - the visitor which was very good. later on a friend and i went to the bf's small show at their studio. it was really fun and they sounded great. after that we went to merkles to see one of her friend's bands. it's been quite a long time since i've been out in wrigleyville. i felt like the oldiest and most sober person in the room. it was a bit rough. fun nonetheless! the rest of the weekend is a blur and i'm super tired and in need of another vaca day which isn't gonna happen for awhile unfortunately.

NEW BLOG TO CHECK OUT!
if you want more on my foodie wannabe ways check out this new blog i'm a co-author on - http://iheartcomida.blogspot.com/.